Quite a few people have been speculating on how and why we select certain sites for wind parks. As luck would have it, the Ecotricity Wind Development Team has been working on a number of slides that not only show the selection process, but also examine progress (or more accurately, the lack of progress) towards the regional South West Renewable Energy targets for 2020. Let’s have a look at the targets and progress first…
Sources of information:
HMGovernment.
The UK Low carbon Transition Plan – National strategy for climate and energy July 2009
HMGovernment.
UK Renewable Energy Strategy July 2009
Generation Targets for 2020.
Submitted by: Centre for Sustainable Energy, Peter Capener, Wardell Armstrong International June 2005
Survey of renewable electricity and heat projects in South West England
regensw June 2009
Jargon:
Installed GW – this is the capacity of the installed renewable energy.
GW – Gigawatt. 1 Gigawatt = 1,000 Megawatts
Biomass + W + AD – Biomass, Wood & Anaerobic digestion.
AONB – Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
It will come as no surprise to most people that our county (Glos) is way off the mark, as far as hitting its 2010 targets. This also would imply that if every county were as bad at meeting targets as we are, the nation will also fail to meet its obligations… and if every country did the same, then the world will fail also. Act locally, think globally as they say.
Stroud5050 is a campaign that recognises the value of ‘glocal‘ thinking and action. Every county across the UK needs to find suitable sites for renewable energy projects, and there are a lot of considerations. Choosing a site to build on is not a simple process though… there are a number of factors that have to be thought through before even applying for planning permission is considered, including:
• Is the average wind speed sufficient?
• Is the site in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty?
• Is the site designated as being nationally or internationally important for wildlife?
• Housing density?
• Will there be an objection from civil aviation or MOD radar operator?
• Is there a risk of interference with fixed radio/phone links?
• Is there nearby connection to the national grid?
• What is access by road like – good or poor? Can we actually get turbines onto the site?
Here’s how we overlaid all these factors onto Stroud District to identify the potential sites for a new wind park (based on current data and constraints).
As you can see – there really wasn’t much in the way of choices, and it certainly isn’t an arbitrary process.
We hope these slides show how and why Berkeley Vale site was chosen. And we hope you will also understand the urgency of wind development in Gloucestershire – to deliver our county’s share of the national and global CO2 reduction targets we all are responsible for.
We are totally committed to doing our part towards achieving Gloucestershire’s renewable energy target for 2010, 2020 and beyond – we need you to do yours, too.
As for finding the voting form pre-ticked for me to say yes……well, I think that just neatly sums up what and whom we are dealing with here. I very much doubt even if 100% vote against that it will make any difference……this train is rolling because it is driven by money and vested interests. It says on the site “The power to choose for Stroud” and then they tick the yes box for us, how kind of them. That kind of approach would make me want to vote against even if I were in favour. The Labour government promised us the power to choose over the European Constitution and then when they realized how we would choose they withdrew that offer. We will see the same happening here.
One final point – why Ecotricty? Has this been put to open tender? I don’t know the answer, but it does seem convenient that a local company has the contract……..perhaps it did beat off loads of stiff competition.
Levelized Cost of New Electricity Generating Technologies 2030 Wind has no variable fuel costs, and as such the price of wind electricity will be stable as the price of fossil fuels continue to rise.
At current projections the UK will be importing 80% of our energy requirements by 2020.
Britain to rely on imports for half winter gas - The Times
Other renewable energy resources like biogas and hydro have the benefit of being limited but controlable, by using a combination of solar, wind, pumped storage and biogas a consistent output can be achieved.
Your comparisons between Labour/Ecotricity and their actions beggars belief, as does the fact you seem to have ignored the original blog post regarding how Ecotricity avoid "The destruction to landscape, wildlife and natural beauty" when selecting a site.
These kind of marketing surveys are actually as valid as "8 out of 10 cats prefer...", but unfortunately most people will believe it if it's a Yes result, and I can't imagine that we'll hear anymore about it if it isn't yes. Although maybe it will be like the EU and the Lisbon treaty and they will just keep asking.
Coal – 5.2
Gas – 4.2
Nuclear – 3.2
Wind (onshore) – 5.0
Wind (offshore) – 7.0
Tidal – 12.0
Hydroelectric – 8.2
Geothermal – 17.3
Solar – 22.5
The conclusion seems fairly clear: onshore wind turbines are the most cost effective renewable energy solution. Contrary to Mr. Hunt’s assertions they are not inefficient – the definition of efficiency is the ratio of what you get out to what you put in, hence a wind turbine is infinitely efficient as the wind is free! Perhaps Mr. Hunt is referring to the fact that a wind turbine will only generate when the wind is blowing, which is obviously the case. However, this is already taken into account in the calculations and such fluctuations are easily accommodated by our existing grid system.
Mr. Hunt says that we should be protecting our “inherited environment” for future generations. This is exactly what we would do by building wind turbines – structures that do no inherent damage to the local environment: you can even take them down in 20 years and return the landscape to its previous state if our “money and brains” have devised more effective green solutions by then.
Attributes: the Case of Wind Turbines (pdf)
Whereas fossil fuels will get more expensive as we use up (arguably already have) the cheapest and most readily available See recent UKERC report of peak oil (pdf)
The UK side of the North Sea is now producing half as much oil as it was in 1999.
Coal production in the UK reached its peak in 1913!
We only really have enough coal left to provide about 15% of our electricity for the next 20 years Outlook for Coal Production
Looking at the accessible resource available at UK deep mines and surface mineable area, we project
that the UK’s total coal production could be sustained within a band of 21-29 mt in 2010 and 15-21 mt
in 2016. This includes production of sized coals (large graded coal) which would be provided to the
domestic sector.
At the moment 50mt provides around 1/3 our our electricity.
Coal imports into the UK 2000 to 2005
Imagine your washing has to be done twice or three times because it keeps getting soot blown onto it from the coke works over 6 miles away. Imagine your house is on an estate built from clearing a coal depot to one side... so again you get the soot on your clothes and have to walk through the reserve to get to school? It's very easy for some people to bury their heads in the sand, take the "gerroff moi land!" stance when it comes to putting up these turbines but at the end of the day... and the beginning and the middle.... we need these. And solar. And the hydro barrage on the Severn. Everything helps and everything will have to play it's part.
I'd be very interested in hearing from the people of Nympsfield on their view. They have the turbine on their doorstep and have it's electricity serving their community. It's been there at least the 8 years I've been living here.
What have they taken from this, from having the most visible and recognisable turbine in the Stroud District? Do they love it? Do they feel it blots their view? Have house prices gone down there more than in other non-turbine areas? Or does the thought of having sustainable energy supplied actually promote house sales?
One final point... I don't care if it's Ecotricity, French-owned EDF or British Gas. So long as it's someone. It's certainly not the government. I haven't heard anything to promote green leccy. I have to go looking for what grants etc are available myself... and as keen as I am I bet I won't be able to do a thing because someone will object.
...try this site for some more urban turbines that don't have to have huge towers
http://www.quietrevolution.co.uk/qr5.htm
It's one turbine, Mr Hunt, not armageddon.
One of our largest operators of wind power, E.ON UK, has pointed out to the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs that for every 1 megawatt of wind capacity, 0.9 MW or more of conventional plant will be needed as back up capacity. So a no brainer then!
So where will the back up power come from?
In the short term, it will need fast start diesel generators, that will create more CO2 than any wind turbine will ever save.
If locating wind farms in areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) becomes the norm, then I shall join the ranks of people who will actively campaign against them being located anywhere.
There is no contract and your implied "this is a bit suspect" is somewhat insulting to them as a company. It's a business who will pay for the consultation, planning, land, construction and maintenance. Therefore there doesn't need to be a "tender" process as there's no government funding towards them.
With regards building turbines in general there are a LOT more ruinous blots on the countryside I've lived in all my life than these structures.
Ugly box housing estates (Kingsway) and unsympathetic business parks (Oldends Lane) built on green spaces are far more detrimental to the fabric of our countryside than these.
Ultimately it comes down to aesthetics for the vast majority of people - some like them some don't. Personally, I do and always have as they are one of the few modern man made structures to enahance a landscape.
To K Millard: "permission has been granted for a new mast at Nympsfield as a precursor to a wind turbine". No it isn't. It's a test mast for a new technology, not a precursor to a turbine. Read the news article or speak to the company involved to get the correct facts.
Thanks for your recent comments on the Stroud5050 blog.
Unfortunately two of them do not adhere to our blog guidelines and will not be published.
In this post we discuss that Ad Hom (and potentially libellous) comments are not acceptable, and we also ask that any factual/science statements are backed up with sources at least.
I tried to email you directly to discuss these comments and how they might be rephrased to meet the guidelines, but the address you supplied is not valid.
Best regards
Paul
The worst offenders though - America and China, are going to continue to 'offset' their carbon emissions onto other non-polluting countries. So in a way we have to be twice as tough. And with that, I flick the switch on my laptop battery as it's charged up now.
Not least, it's the truth, from an unbiased perspective.
Thank you.
(Now you just need to submit that on the council planning website!)
But anyway, I urge antis to read the article below... 50% of energy from clean wind sound like a fanciful notion? Not at all - established fact:
<>
A medium sized coal fired power station produces around 900MW of power. Because wind turbines are only 30% efficient taken as an average due to weather conditions as well as their way overstated output ratings in the first place it would take 2,600 turbines to replace that one power station.
Which would YOU rather have nearby? You can hide a Drax type station behind a hill but for that many turbines you can kiss goodbye to the entire Cotswolds!
Funding has now been granted to build carbon capture stations on top of coal fields in Yorkshire. The coal is brought out of the ground, washed, and fed straight into the furnaces. It will provide thousands of jobs, solid dependable energy, plans have been drawn up to pipe the CO2 back under the North Sea to fill up the depleated oil fields (and push the last oil out), oh and there is enough of the stuff to power the UK in entirety without importing any foreign gas, coal or oil for 400 years. That should give us enough time to develop proper alternative supplies of base load power without littering the countryside with bird shredders!
Bit more thought, bit less romanticism eh?
In Britain, with it being a smallish island, the distance between wind turbines and housing is going to be smaller than, say, America.
But on the positive side, because we're doing something about it NOW and because we have less of a population than most American states, we won't need as many windfarms as they do.
So for those who think that 8 wind turbines in Berkeley Vale will look horrible, or those who feel blighted down in Cornwall, spare a thought to people in America who have to view this scene every day...
http://www.vatransformer.com/images/wind_farm.jpg